This invention relates to a device which, incorporated into a rotary bottle/jar capping machine, serves to feed in and remove the individual containers.
Containers for capping are moved along a conveyor generally forming a part of a filling machine, from where a first carrier wheel takes the filled bottles or jars onto a rotary capping unit; once capped, the bottles are transferred by a second carrier wheel onto a conveyor belt.
Conventional such devices have several drawbacks:
the time-lapse between filling and capping is too great and can give rise to deterioration of the product in the container;
during its passage through the line, the bottle or jar undergoes frequent change of direction which, given the high speed operation of plant of this kind, can cause spillage of liquid or foodstuff from the container mouth;
different shapes and sizes of bottle/jar present a real production drawback as a considerable number of machine parts making up the device need changing over.
The device described herein eliminates drawbacks thus described whilst providing the following advantages: a marked reduction in the time-lapse between completion of container-filling and the moment of capping; filled containers subject to no sudden change in path direction; simplified procedure for production using different container formats involving changeover of a limited number of machine parts.
Furthermore, the device to which the invention relates takes up little space, reducing the overall size of plant making use thereof.